


The odds are never in our favour

by lightvich



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hunger Games Setting, M/M, Possible Character Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-29
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-21 07:24:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1542488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lightvich/pseuds/lightvich
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life in District 12 wasn’t easy.<br/>It wasn’t easy and Fiona Gallagher, barely 21 years old, knew it better than anyone, since she had to carry the whole situation on her shoulders from the age of twelve.<br/>Her family, in spite of all the entries they had due to their poverty, had been so lucky that none of them was reaped for the Games until that day.<br/>And Fiona knew that it was a miracle, she knew that they were extremely lucky.<br/>What she didn’t know, what none of them knew, was that everything about about to change.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The odds are never in our favour

Life in District 12 wasn’t easy.  
It wasn’t easy for anyone, not for a single person, not for a small family, nevermind for a family composed of six kids, who struggled day by day to keep going.  
It wasn’t easy and Fiona Gallagher, barely 21 years old, knew it better than anyone, since she had to carry the whole situation on her shoulders from the age of twelve, when her mentally-ill mother ran away because she couldn’t stand that life any longer and her father became nothing more than a burden, spending his days at the Hob, drunk, and leaving her alone to take care of her five siblings.  
Her family, in spite of all the entries they had due to their poverty, had been so lucky that none of them was reaped for the Games until that day.  
And Fiona knew that it was a miracle, she knew that they were extremely lucky.  
What she didn’t know, what none of them knew, was that everything about about to change.

***  
“Gallagher! Wait up!”  
Mickey was almost running to keep up with Ian, who didn’t look like he was going to slow down any time soon.  
“The fuck are you running for? We got plenty of t-”  
Ian turned around, facing Mickey.  
“No we don’t. We don’t have time, we barely have a couple hours before the Reaping, and I don’t wanna waste it. So move your ass.”  
He attempted at grinning, with no big success, but Mickey just shoved him, trying to ease the tension from both of them for what was going to happen.  
They reached the abandoned building a bit outside the city that along the years had become “their building”, and they just sat down on the dirty ground.  
They both stayed silent, leaning against each other and brushing their shoulders together, pretending that their lives were easy, normal, and that no one in their city between the ages of 12 and 18 would be chosen in a few hours to be thrown in an arena full of other kids, with the sole purpose of killing each other.  
Ian’s mind was spinning, thinking about the odds that their families had to be reaped, and he reached for Mickey’s hand, holding it tightly.  
“Mickey, I-”  
“Gallagher, seriously, I don’t wanna talk about it.”  
Ian breathed slowly, rubbing circles on Mickey’s hand with his thumb.  
“I do. I need to say it out loud.”  
They stared at each other, until Mickey gave him a small nod.  
“I.. Mick, I’m scared. And the thing is, I’m not scared for myself. I mean, not only. I’m scared for you, I’m scared for my family, for Mandy..”  
Mickey did the only thing he could do at the moment, he held Ian’s hand tighter, waiting for him to continue.  
“It’s, uhm, it’s clear that if they call Carl’s name I’ll volunteer for him, cause Lip’s too old to be reaped so better me than him, but what about Debs?” he turned towards Mickey with sad, watery eyes. “What can I do for Debbie, Mick? Fiona’s too old to volunteer for her, I.. I can’t do anything. And.. and..”  
Ian started chocking on air, overwhelmed from everything that was spinning through his mind.  
“And what, Ian? Keep going, I’m listening.”  
It was Mickey’s turn now to soothe Ian by rubbing circles on the other man’s back, trying to get him to go on.  
“And what about me, Mick? How.. how can I go on in there with what’s going on in my head? I can’t even volunteer to protect Debbie if she’s called because who knows what my illness will bring in there, I could be more of a damage than anything..”  
Ian started hyperventilating again, and that’s when Mickey realized that if they didn’t move, they were going to be late.  
And they just couldn’t be late for this.  
“C’mon Ian, get up.. we need to go.”  
Ian did as he was asked, but before stepping out of the building, Mickey grabbed the other man’s face in a gentle grip, planting a firm kiss on Ian’s lips.  
“I promise, I won’t let anything happen to us. To any of us. Okay?”  
Ian just nodded, blinking away the tears that were filling his green eyes.  
***  
“Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favour!”  
And that’s it, that’s how every year the torture begins.  
There are sweaty hands, heavy pantings, sped up heartbeats, of all the eligible kids who could be facing their death in a matter of days, maybe a week.  
Mickey and Ian look at each other from the crowd, Ian with the group of seventeen year-olds, and Mickey with the last ones, the eighteen year-olds.  
The almost safe ones. The “resist one more time and this nightmare will be gone forever” ones.  
Mickey offers Ian one last, sad smile before Effie starts chirping again, in her high-pitched voice.  
“As usual, ladies first!”  
She moves towards the glass with the girls’ names in it, and fishes out one card, from the top.  
You can hear every single breath, every single heartbeat, until Effie smoothes the paper and reads out loud.  
“Debbie Gallagher.”  
From that moment, everything is a blur.  
Mickey can hear Fiona and Lip shouting, screaming and crying from behind them, he can see the little scared thirteen year old making her way through the crowd and to the stage.  
And in that moment, looking at Ian who’s silently crying, Mickey knows what he has to do.  
Just as Effie is approaching the boys’ glass to find out who’s gonna be the next victim, Mickey steps out of the crowd, talking loud and clear.  
“I volunteer as tribute.”  
No stuttering, no emotions showing.  
Fists and jaw clenched, Mickey makes his away to the stage, only to be grabbed from a couple of hands that snap him out of his thoughts.  
“Mickey, no! NO! Don’t touch me! MICKEY! Don’t! NO!” Ian, held back by peacekeepers, is reaching towards Mickey, who just slips out of the other man’s reach and heads back to the podium, trying so hard not to hear the screaming coming from his sister and the man he loves and focusing on the only thing that matters. Protecting Debbie.  
***  
The first one to show up to talk to Mickey at the Justice Building is clearly Mandy.  
Well she doesn’t really talk, she mostly shouts at him, punches him, and ends up crying the whole time.  
She’s immediately followed by Fiona, then Lip, who both understand his reasons and want to thank him, but really, how can you thank someone in a situation like this?  
None of them knows what to say, so they both end up hugging Mickey tight and whispering ‘thank you’s until their time is up.  
And just as Mickey started thinking that Ian wouldn’t come, there he is, slamming the door open and launching himself at Mickey.  
“Why did you do this? Idiot, you’re an idiot! You didn’t have to! Nobody asked you to do it! You didn’t have to, Mickey, you didn’t..”  
Ian is shut up by Mickey’s lips, firmly pressed against his own.  
The kiss is definitely not tender, not sweet.  
It’s passion, and rage, and sorrow. Teeth bite and hands hold hard, and they don’t let go until the Peacekeepers come to take Ian away.  
“Mickey, no! Don’t leave me.. Mickey!”  
Ian is still shouting as they carry him out the door, and the only thing Mickey can manage to say before Ian disappears is a soft “I promise I’ll take care of her.”

**Author's Note:**

> For anything you wanna ask me, you can find me on tumblr [here](http://runawaywithmegg.tumblr.com) ♥


End file.
